'If you ever see a Dromo in person... Run. Run as far and fast as you can.' The words echoed in Torrin's mind, causing a chill to run through him.
After shaking off the feeling, he nodded, "Of course, Grams... Great advice, as always."
Grams looked at him pointedly, "Just keep the words in mind, boy."
"I will," he said seriously.
Grams smiled widely, "Good! Then let me show you what else I've prepared for your trip, boy."
The old lady stood up, leading Torrin towards her workspace. Torrin hadn't seen her at work in there, but he knew she must use it often, as the floral aroma of herbs and potions never really faded from the area around the door.
The room wasn't too big, containing a table against the back wall covered with beakers and bottles, clamps and tongs, distillation and heating equipment and various things Torrin had no idea the purpose nor name of. On the left wall was a bookshelf containing various scrolls, parchment, and books--presumably on alchemy. On the right side of the room was another table--this one smaller than the worktable--on which sat a few bottles of pills and elixirs. Above the table hung a chalkboard with words in a language Torrin had never seen and equations that Torrin didn't understand.
Looking around the room a moment, Torrin couldn't help but ask, "Grams... Why bring me here? Don't you usually just whisk things from thin air?"
She answered with a laugh, "Hah, that's true, boy. But I wanted to let you see some of the equipment used in the process of Alchemy. Hopefully after all of this nonsense is over with, I can teach you a few things." A bright smile sat on her face.
Torrin nodded at the reply. He had worked with an Alchemist in his old world during one of his summer lessons, so he knew some basics. Though he'd never thought of it as something necessary to learn, thinking of how strong Grams was changed his view on that. He'd try his best to learn anything she'd be willing to teach him.
"I'd like that, Grams." The two exchanged a small smile.
"Now let's look at what I've got for you, boy! This here is a potion you should be familiar with," she said, pointing to one of her legendary healing potions and Torrin nodded.
"A healing potion, right?" Torrin asked.
Grams scoffed, "A healing potion, you say? This potion is far more than a simple healing potion, boy! It can not only heal nearly any wound, but also restore your mana! Even someone at the Master stage of Alchemy could only dream of making something so wonderful," she said in a haughty tone.
Torrin rolled his eyes, "Sorry, Grams. A super healing potion, then?"
Grams nodded at that, "That's much better, boy. Now, we have a Potion of Strength as well," she said, pointing out a red-tinted potion, "This will nearly double your strength for about five minutes-- but the downside is--you will be weakened once it wears off. You'll need about a day to recover."
Torrin's eyes widened at the explanation. 'Double my strength? That's definitely invaluable!' he thought.
A cackle rang out, "Haha! Now there's a proper reaction to my greatness!" The statement made Torrin sigh.
"Next, we've got a few pills for mana regeneration. It should stimulate your core and allow it to recover mana much quicker than normal, though with your special core I'm not sure how effective they'll be. Better safe than sorry, though, boy." She said with a serious tone.
Hearing her change in tone he couldn't help but ask, "Grams... Why is all of this necessary? Aren't I just going to learn magic from the Elves? Why would I need such extravagant items?"
Her silver eyes narrowed at his questions, "Boy, do you think you're going for a picnic? The Elven people take magic very seriously and I worry for your safety."
Torrin was taken aback, "Worry for my safety?! Then why am I going in the first place?"
"Oh, you poor boy..." She said, shaking her head, "As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or how about this one, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Both of those are quite fitting for how the Elves train their elites."
Torrin began feeling nervous at her words. 'I thought I was going to learn magic, but Grams makes it sound as if I'm going off to war!' he thought worriedly. He hadn't expected to need such items, but it never hurt to be over-prepared.
"I've also prepared a few books for you during your trip. Come along, boy." Grams said after handing Torrin five of each potion and two bottles containing ten mana regeneration pills each.
A few books turned out to be two Herbology books containing rare herbs that he might encounter, as well as a book on Mana Crystal extraction methods and a book on ores that he should look out for during his trip. Torrin's brows furrowed at the last two.
"Grams, am I going to be... Mining? During this trip?" Torrin asked with a confused tone to his voice.
Grams shrugged, "It's possible, boy. The pocket realm that their elites train in is vast, about half the size of this entire continent. It also has time dilation as I stated before, much higher than even the lab you stumbled into. Though the competition is set to start four months from now, your trip could last up to two years..." She trailed off, waiting for his reaction.
She must have seen what she wanted, for she began cackling madly. Torrin's mouth hung wide open, his eyes wide.
"You'd better close your mouth or you'll catch a fly!" She said between laughs, "So now you understand why it may be a bit of a trip and why I prepared so many potions for you. Use them sparingly," she said with a stern gaze, "Now, for the last book I've prepared..."
Grams handed Torrin a thin book bound in leather. Opening it, Torrin found it to be a diary of sorts that Grams had written herself, indicated by her name on the first page; it contained various notes and included spells, runes, and wards using those runes. Torrin looked back to Grams with his eyebrow raised.
Grams sighed, "Young people never appreciate what they're given... This book is something I've written up over the years. It may be the most valuable piece of knowledge that I own."
Hearing her explanation, Torrin began to get excited, "What's in it, Grams?"
The old woman gave a tooth grin, saying, "It's information I learned from my world that I've applied to various things in this world--Magic and Alchemy mainly. But to a youngster like yourself? It should be one of the most profound and enlightening things you'll ever see. Be sure to take good care of it and don't allow anyone else to see what it contains!"
Torrin's eyes widened once more, mouth agape as he began to understand just how valuable the book was. Grams laughed at the sight before continuing, "As you've seen, I have great insight into Spacial magic... That is also included in the book, with spells and wards pertaining to that."
Torrin shook his head in disbelief. The book in his hands had to be worth a fortune--maybe invaluable. Torrin quickly stored the book in his ring along with the others before Grams could change her mind. She nodded her approval at the sight.
"Very good, boy. Now, we just have one last stop, follow me." Grams said, leading him from the room and taking him into one of the unused bedrooms. The room was simple with a bed and night stand on the back wall, as well as a small dresser stuck to the right wall.
On the bed, Torrin saw a stack of various clothing items. He activated his mana sight to see if there was anything special about them, and gasped in shock as he saw that every single item was inscribed with runes.
Grams explained, "Here are some outfits I've made for you, boy. They're not the highest quality work I could make, but they're decent for the time I had available. The outfit you've got on now should only be worn on formal occasions, like when you first meet the Elves," Torrin nodded his understanding, walking toward the bed and taking a look at the clothes.
Torrin held up each piece of clothing in turn as he examined them before storing them away. A stack of undershirts, each in a different color sat on the corner of the bed. His eyes roamed to a stack of simple shirts--both short and long sleeved. He saw there were also loose-fitting tunics as well--black, cerulean, green, red, and silver--that would hang down almost to his knees.
The last few items included a variety of different pants--some were loose and flowing, some were basic trousers--as well as two different silk robes--one black and one white--that he could wrap around the outside of his clothing, held by a belt that was part of the design. Both of the robes would provide an extra layer of defensive runes, Grams explained when he asked when or why he would ever wear them. A good amount of underclothes were available as well, even a few pairs of simple shorts he could sleep in.
Torrin smiled gratefully looking at all of the fine wares, thanking Grams profusely for providing him such nice clothing--especially since they all had some form of enchantment--and praised the craftsmanship.
Grams stood preening, delighted at the praise she received. The two soon went their separate ways to rest for the night. As Torrin sat on his bed, he finally had a chance to analyze his new core in depth.
'I haven't had a chance to actually see what changed with my core when I formed it.' Torrin thought, trying to push down his growing excitement.
He dove into himself after a moment of calming his mind. He examined the shining crystalline core. The entire reserve of Saen he'd absorbed had almost completely went into enhancing his body and forging his core, but in the center of his core there was a floating crystal sphere of Saen. He was unsure why it had formed like that, but assumed it was from the remaining energy condensing into a solid form--It looked similar to his core.
Mana swirled inside his core around the sphere. He was curious about the solid Saen, so he focused intently on extracting a tiny bit of it to use. A wispy tendril of Saen bled from the ball, sliding through the crystalline core as if it didn't exist, following his pathways and out into his open palm.
Once the energy left his body, he found his control on the wisp of energy slipping. He forced his will onto the wisp, forming it into a small ball of writhing energy the size of a pea. The strain this put on him forced him to reabsorb the energy into his core, where it circled around the floating sphere of Saen like his mana.
Torrin was curious why both his mana and the Saen wisp were circling the ball when he saw the wisp draw itself inside the sphere slowly, pulling a bit of mana in with it. This surprised Torrin, as he didn't expect the small sphere to reabsorb the Saen, nor take his mana with it.
'Is this sphere slowly absorbing my mana and turning it into Saen like that container did?' Torrin wondered curiously, but had no way to prove it besides extensive testing. Since he didn't have much time on his hands, he put the thought on hold and decided he should sleep.
Ever since the testing orb, for whatever reason, his dreams were not constantly plagued by the gruesome scene of Perria's death. He was actually able to get a good nights sleep. He theorized that this change to his sleep was a main factor in his mind stabilizing itself after all of his trauma since dying.
Torrin awoke to Grams poking him with Stix, "What, Grams? Is it time already?" he asked groggily. He slowly sat up and looked over to Grams.
"Yes, boy, I just got word from Little Lissy that they've agreed to meet with you. No guarantees about training, but they will allow you to teleport to their city safely." Grams replied. Torrin rolled his eyes at the use of the disrespectful nickname, "Do you want to take this damn stick with you?"
Torrin shook his head, looking at the stick with a sad smile, "No, Grams. You hold onto Stix for me."
"Hmph, good. I've grown quite attached to this thing... Stix is an excellent listener, unlike you, boy." Grams replied smugly. Torrin shook his head at the woman's words, standing up and stretching with a wide yawn.
Grams handed Torrin a plain silver amulet. He turned it over in his hands and saw a large rune on the back, surrounded by a plethora of smaller runes. He looked at Grams with a questioning look.
"This is a communication amulet. If you wear it and imbue it with your will, it will try to connect to mine," she said, showing him an identical amulet around her neck, "Although you won't be able to use it in their warded forest nor the pocket dimension, should you be allowed inside, it should come in handy if you find yourself outside of the Elven lands for whatever reason. Keep it in your ring just in case, boy. I won't be able to watch over you while you're gone due to their wards." She finished with a stern gaze.
Seeing the look, Torrin held his hands up, "Okay, okay. I'll keep up with it, I promise. Thank you, Grams. You've helped me so much since we met. I promise I'll find a way to repay you for everything," he said, bowing to his master.
"Pfft, none of that now, boy! I do appreciate your flowery words, though." Grams grinned, patting Torrin on his shoulder, "Now, go straighten yourself out, boy. You need to look presentable for the meeting!" She scolded, looking at his simple undershirt and shorts.
"Right away, Grams," Torrin said dutifully, heading to the bathroom. He took a quick shower--as Grams called it--and got dressed in his fine clothing once more, meeting Grams in the main room.
Grams nodded at his appearance saying, "Well, boy. At least you'll look presentable when you meet with them."
Grams grabbed his shoulder and the two went twisting through space, appearing in the capital with a pop. It was barely sunrise, so not too many people took note of their arrival. The pair arrived at the palace within a few minutes, the trip much quicker with the lack of people on the streets.
The same butler as before bowed shallowly and took the pair twisting through the halls of the palace. They arrived at a rune inscribed metal door and were led through it onto a downward spiraling staircase. Arriving at the bottom, Torrin saw a platform raised a step off the ground.
The platform was covered in intricate runes that Torrin had no hope of understanding. On the platform the queen stood impatiently, no longer dressed grandly, but in a simple dress. She did not look pleased to have been kept waiting.
"What took you so long?" The queen asked, venom lacing her words, a piercing glare leveled at Grams.
'Someone didn't get enough sleep,' Torrin thought sourly.
Grams just cackled, "Oho! Girly, you're always so impatient! Look at the boy! Style like that takes time!" She stated, waving towards Torrin.
The queen's glare redoubled on Torrin and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Her gaze didn't move and she said nothing. He shrugged in response, unsure of what she wanted him to say.
"Listen here, Rin. Do. Not. Mess. This. Up." The queen said, eyes narrowing, emphasizing each word thoroughly.
Torrin bowed deeply, trying to convey his understanding, "I understand, my Queen. Relations between our races are not good and this is a risk you are taking, by allowing me to go. I will do my best to make sure I conduct myself with the utmost decency and decorum." he finished, sneaking a glance through his hair from his bowed position to see the queen's reaction.
He was just in time to see the queen roll her eyes, "Rise, Rin. You know..." She trailed off, tapping her chin with a slender finger, "I'm not sure what I hate more--your master's complete lack of respect or your overly exaggerated act of respecting me." She said, shaking her head as her hand moved to rub her temples.
Torrin straightened his back and looked over to Grams who was smiling broadly, he smiled in return.
"Come on, Rin. Let us get this over with so I can go to bed... I have been up all night trying to negotiate with the Elven Monarchs to make this possible," The queen said in a weary tone, waving him forward.
Grams stopped Torrin with a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Oh, I almost forgot one more thing!"
The malicious grin on the old hag's face made Torrin blanch, trying to escape her grasp. He knew whatever she had "almost forgot" was nothing good.
She mumbled a few words and runes appeared around Torrin's wrists and ankles, as air and earth mana coalesced together into a spell. Invisible shackles snapped into place on his body, making him nearly stumble from the pressure.
"What the hell, Grams?!" Torrin exclaimed in shock. It felt as if he had an extra hundred pounds added to each limb.
"Not enough? Hmph," She said unhappily, mumbling a few more words as more runes appeared in the air around each of the previously applied spells, adding one to his waste as well.
This time, Torrin did stumble a step under the weight. He had to take a moment to steady himself as he glared at the old witch. Grams began cackling and the queen sighed.
"Don't worry, boy! It's only an extra 70 pounds or so... On each area, that is." With a manic gleam in her eyes and mouth spewing laughter, she looked truly evil.
All Torrin could do was sigh as he dragged himself over to the platform to stand by the queen. The queen looked at Torrin with a questioning gaze and he shrugged. He wasn't going to argue about the spell--he was actually kind of happy that Grams had placed the spells on him. It would help him strengthen his body--something he felt he desperately needed.
"Off you go, then," The queen said, stepping from the platform, "And do remember to act with the utmost decency and decorum," she deadpanned.
As the runes on the platform began to light up, Torrin took a chance to look at the two one last time. The queen had a worried look on her face, while Grams stood with a shit eating grin, waving at him. Torrin sighed as light began to envelop him.
The process was only a slight bit smoother than Grams' teleporting method, so he still found himself closing his eyes in the moment of turbulent travel. He opened his eyes, looking around in wonder.
Torrin arrived on a similar platform as the one he had left on. He saw that all around him were what seemed like wooden walls that curved and turned here and there, covered in silver runes. Two people--elves, he realized--stood before the platform with arms held behind their back.
One was a man with golden-blonde hair that hung straight down his back, the front of which was pinned back behind his ears by a silver circlet resting on his brow. His ears tapered to a point and were slightly larger than a human's. His face was regal and he held himself with and aura of authority. He wore a silver outfit, some sort of robe that shone in the light of the wooden teleport room.
The woman, however, looked even more authoritative. She had a serious face, but the expression didn't take away from her beauty. Her brows were furrowed as she looked at Torrin, her hair was a pinkish-silver hue that he'd never seen before, and it was braided intricately down her back. She wore a beautiful silver dress that matched the man's. A small tiara sat on her head. The woman and man both had delicate features.
The man cleared his throat before speaking, "Welcome to Cellinia, the capital city of the Elven race on Zon," the man spoke politely, pointing to himself as he continued, "We are King Fellen and Queen Dawnel. We are pleased to welcome you to our city." The man smiled genially, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
Torrin bowed deeply to the pair as he spoke respectfully, "Thank you for allowing me to visit your home. It is a great honor that I am not sure I deserve. My name is Rin Gram. I am both humbled and honored that you have personally greeted me on my arrival."